I've done south beach diet, weight watchers, calorie counting and others without eating meat. Vegetarian is much cheaper than eating meat. Beans and grains are very cheap. Look at buying from bulk bins if you have access to co-ops, health food stores and Whole Foods.
Do you have an asian market? Asian markets often have a lot of fresh produce for really cheap. A good farmers market is also helpful.
Beans beans beans! Also, tofu is around 2 bucks a block in these parts which is significantly cheaper than meat (or cheese, for that matter). Another good thing is couscous, or bulgur (cracked wheat)- you can make them into salads and stuff too. Eggs are pretty cheap too, pretty much i find cheese is really deadly to weight loss personally. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are not expensive either. If you are finding fresh produce expensive try some frozen peas!
Veggies in the supermarkets, at least where I am, are incredibly expensive. You can end up spending two to three times more for fresh produce than you can at farm stands or produce markets (that are open year around).
Research your area. See if there are other options like farmers markets, stands, or produce markets. Usually, not always, but usually these offer fresher produce at less cost than what you will find at the supermarket chains.
Buy beans and rice and things, dried, in bags or even bulk to save money. Really planning out your meals, avoid bagged lettuce, things like that. If you have to go to a supermarket pay attention to what is on sale. Buy local as much as possible and utilize what is in your area.
To give you an idea on a cost breakdown for me. I can buy 4 lemons, big ones, for a dollar at the farm stand I go to, or I can buy lemons for $.50 each at the local supermarkets. That is pretty standard for where I am, unless there is a sale, and the lemons at the supermarket are never as fresh, they ALWAYS go bad fast for some odd reason lol.
Where I am, fruits are generally much more expensive than veggies. A head of green leaf lettuce will give me a bunch of sevings for a buck, or maybe two in the winter. A bunch of carrots will be a dollar for three or four servings, and still pretty cheap in the winter too. An apple, a banana, a peach will generally be anywhere from 50 cents to over a dollar for one (which is usually one serving each, maybe 2). However, everything, even expensive fruits, will go on sale now and then. Last week, a 2-lb container of blueberries was $4. At half a cup per serving, there had to be 10 servings in that container! (Not that I eat a half a cup at a time! ) So my first piece of advice is to keep an eye on sales, and tailor your menu plannin to the sales.
My second piece of advice is that cooking from scratch is far, far cheaper than buying prepared/processed food, even veg food. Yes, "fake meats" are costly. But plain tofu, where I am, is $2 a package, which is about 5 servings. And beans?!? A bag of uncooked chickpeas is $2, which has to be at least 10 servings. Hummus is one of my favourite things on each, and while tahini is a little more costly, tahini-free hummus is cheap pretty easy to make, super-delicious and very nutritious! (Mmm, I want hummus now. )
My most recent lunch is black bean burgers from Veganomicon (I hope the link works). The beans are a couple bucks for a bag, the tomato paste is 50 cents for a can of several servings (freeze the rest by the tablespoon in plastic wrap so it doesn't go to waste), the vital wheat gluten is about $10 for a bag but you get probably 10 portions, the buns are cheap but whole wheat ones are a little more costly (I paid $3 for 8 buns on the weekend), the onions/garlic/breadcrumbs are cheap, and the cilantro can be costly but is completely optional. The cost of what you used to make 8 servings of burgers: under $7. This week I also bought a red onion and avocado ($4 for a bag of 5 avocados) to top my burgers with, but you can buy tomatoes instead. You could also buy green leaf lettuce and have a lettuce-only salad on the side, topped with oil and vinegar (cheaper than salad dressing) and maybe the other half of the avocado and some of the red onion). Yum!
My last advice: plan, plan, plan! I never walk into a grocery store without a list. I would spend way too much on things I craved and buy things I din't really want/need if I didn't have a list.
it really is hard to get things inexpensive im sure especially since you are in a big city in new york! cant get more expensive lol. but we have a dollar store here in town called 99cent only. they carry alot of produce, i buy most of mine there. sometime they even have vegan food! they have soymilk a dollar a carton!! thats great! umm i do most of my shopping at bargain markets or maybe you guys have a farmers market around you, that might be a good place for produce, as for dairy besides the milk, i get things only when they are on sale at raleys, which is most of the time, i get things like soy sour cream, soy cream cheese and they are usually 2 for 5 which is a dang bargain! you have to be a bargain shopper! it might be tuff but it is well worth what you save hunting for those certain stores or coupons. so try that out and good luck!
Beans are very cheap, healthy, and will help to keep you full! By some rice in bulk and you've got yourself a party lol! I don't get paid much and hate being hungry so I do tend to by bigger boxes and containers of stuff. I cook it all up and throw it in my freezer this way I have much cheaper and much healthier prepared meals ready to go. Fresh veggies are better than frozen in my opinion but being cheap the way I am I'll usually by the frozen stuff if there's a big price difference. Good luck!
The farmer's market where I live is actually EXTREMELY expensive compared to the supermarkets. I live in a pretty hippy friendly place though, so the farmer's market is very popular, and the prices reflect that. I know in smaller markets, the prices are usually great.
A great way I have found to cut costs is Grocery Outlet if you have one where you live. They have so many organic and meat free products that would usually cost $4-$5 for usually under a buck. Sometimes they'll even have vegetarian soups for 2 or even 3 for a dollar if they are getting close to date. They get stuff in closeouts, so while something isn't always guaranteed to be there, I have fun buying a bunch of whatever is new in. While they carry my normal staples like Amy's, Yves, Annies, etc, I'll also find some new fancy high end vegetarian product I never would have been able to afford before. One month they might get a bunch of meat free pepperoni and the next week they might have some great organic soup. I find that by buying canned/boxed or frozen food there, I can usually get a ton of organic food for less than half of what I would have paid in a "normal" store. Since things come and go, it pays to buy and stock up on whatever you want that they get in stock while they have it if you have the room.
Need Vegetarian Diet HELP! ( on a budget )
) So my first piece of advice is to keep an eye on sales, and tailor your menu plannin to the sales.
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